"It isn't too late. Is the door closing? Absolutely. But I look at the door and I see a tiny little crack... we are walking through that crack", explains UN climate-change chief Christine Figueres. Figueres is a proud Costa Rican, and her homeland is leading the way in use of renewable energy. A country of vast natural beauty, it recently went 75 days using solely renewable power, and has plans to be entirely carbon neutral by 2021. Costa Rica is a valuable example of how countries can productively reduce their carbon footprint, and with the global effects of climate change becoming increasingly evident, the need for drastic reform is greater than ever.

"It's like putting more ice into your gin and tonic. If you put more ice in the level goes up!" explains Professor Peter Convey. Almost 90% of Antarctica's glaciers are melting as a result of rising temperatures, causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The effects of these rises can be felt as far away as Miami. As scientist Keren Bolter explains, "we're measuring the water getting higher and higher every year: this is nothing to argue about... to have our political leadership ignoring it is ridiculous".

"If you control Carbon, you control life... it's a bureaucrats dream", claims Senator Jim Inhoff. Often backed by powerful oil lobbyists, politicians such as Inhoff stand in the way of important ecological reform; preferring to label climate change as a politically-motivated conspiracy rather than a pressing global issue. However, sceptics like Inhoff remain a minority, and young entrepreneurs all over the world are creating new ways to save the planet. As one explains, "we need to get off the curse of fossil fuels, we have to stop cooking the planet."

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